ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Claiming the 2017-18 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament championship on Saturday night at the Alaska Airlines Center, the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team defeated Seattle Pacific University 71-61 to win its first GNAC tournament title in school history.
 
Despite leading through three quarters, the 'Jackets found themselves in a 59-52 with 5:10 left in the game. Senior Lexi Prevost hit one of the biggest shots of the tournament, as she knocked down a corner three to pull MSUB within one possession. From there, the 'Jackets left no doubt as they finished the game on a 14-2 run and erupted into a celebration at midcourt.
 
The Yellowjackets (22-11) locked up an automatic berth into next week's NCAA Division II West Region Championships with the win, making it a third trip to the regional in the last five seasons. "This was just a great game, and I am very proud of this team," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "This is a great win for our university and our team, and I couldn't be more proud."

Alisha Breen was named the GNAC Championships Most Valuable Player, after scoring 77 total points including a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double in the championship game. Breen had 19 points in the second half on Saturday night, and iced the game with a pair of final free throws with 17 seconds to go. "This is what we have talked about since the preseason, and we are fighters," said Breen. "Coming in on Thursday, if we lost we were done. We got a taste of what it would take in that game, and we were determined we weren't going to go home without a win."
 
Freshman Hannah Collins had another standout performance, adding 13 points while once again reaching her season high in minutes played with 35. Senior Rylee Kane also reached double figures with 15 points, and had four assists.
 
Seattle Pacific (23-7) is also expected to advance to next week's regional tournament, as it was ranked sixth entering the week before its two wins to reach the title game. Riley Evans finished the night with 18 points for the Falcons, while Courtney Hollander neared a double-double with a dozen points and nine rebounds.
 
Eleven of Evans' points came in the fourth quarter, as the 'Jackets scrambled to try to stop her pinpoint shooting from the arc. Her back-to-back threes to start the period momentarily swayed the lead and momentum to SPU, before Prevost's big trey kept the 'Jackets afloat.
 
Kane found Breen at the top of the arc for a wide open three to end the first quarter, as the Yellowjackets claimed a 16-14 advantage. SPU's Jordan McPhee hit her lone trey of the night with three minutes to go before the break, pulling SPU back within a single possession down 24-21 as the 'Jackets maintained their edge.
 
After a pair of free throws by Vanessa Stavish, Kane swatted away a 3-point attempt and Collins converted a breakaway layup to make it 28-21. The Falcons refused to go away however, and a big three-point play by Erica Pagano pulled SPU within three down 29-26 at halftime.
 
Stavish drained a corner trey on MSUB's first possession of the second half, but the Falcons came storming back with a 9-2 run and took a 35-34 lead on Evans' first trey.
 
"This was the third night in-a-row that we came right back after giving up the lead late in the game," said Woodin.
 
Overall MSUB shot 46.2 percent from the floor (24-for-52), and made 5 of 12 threes (41.7 percent). MSUB owned the boards with a margin of 34-26, and protected the ball well with just 10 turnovers on the night. SPU finished the evening at 42.9 percent overall (24-for-56), and made 6 of 20 threes (30.0 percent).
 
THE BUZZ: Collins was tabbed the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 21-31 all-time against SPU and is 2-2 in neutral site games…Saturday was the second GNAC tournament game between the teams, with SPU winning 63-60 on March 16, 2013 in Lacey, Wash…Breen is the first GNAC Player of the Year to go on to win GNAC Tournament MVP honors…Breen extended her GNAC record streak of 20 or more points to 10 straight games…Breen broke the GNAC single-season record for minutes played in the third quarter, and reached 1,179 on the year…Breen's 16 double-doubles are fifth most in GNAC single-season history.
 
AHEAD: The NCAA Division II West Region Championships selection show is scheduled for Sunday night at 8 p.m. Mountain time. The program can be viewed online here, and will reveal the eight-team field that will compete for a west region title next week at the site of the No. 1 overall seed. MSU Billings entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the west region, and will find out its first round opponent during the live program.